Geraldine Lane Mardis Papers

Geraldine Lane Mardis was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 14, 1918. She was the only child of Bessie and Roscoe C. Lane. At the age of six she moved to Chicago, Illinois to reside with her paternal grandmother, Belle Lane Kelly, who raised her.

Mardis attended Parker High School and graduated in 1935. She then attended the University of Chicago, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Service and a Master’s Degree from the university’s School of Social Service Administration in 1953. During Mardis’s undergrad years, she was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and considered to be an outgoing student. In 1939, Mardis was nominated as a contestant in the University of Chicago’s annual Cap and Gown Beauty Contest. Mardis was reported leading in votes but was asked to withdraw when officials learned she was African American. The controversy was reported in newspapers nationwide.

In 1948, Mardis married M. Winston Mardis. They divorced seventeen years later. The couple had one son, Winston Lane.

Mardis worked as a medical social worker at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center from 1949 to 1952. She was then employed by Rest Haven Rehabilitation Hospital as a medical social worker in 1959. The hospital was renamed as Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital. Mardis was promoted to Director of the Department of Social Work and stayed until her retirement in February 1992.

Geraldine Lane Mardis passed away on October 12, 2012.